Mongol Rally: A 10,000 Mile Adventure from Europe to Mongolia

Called the greatest motoring adventure on the planet, the Mongol Rally is an annual car rally that begins in Europe and ends in Ulan Ude, Russia. Originally it ended in Mongolia, hence the name this rally earned when the inaugural one took place back in 2004.

You must raise a minimum of £1000 for charity, £500 of which is allocated to the organizer’s charity Cool Earth and the remaining £500 goes toward a charity of your choice.

Even though it’s called a rally, it’s not a race. There’s no prize for reaching the finish line first. There’s also no support team, no official route, and no arrangements made. You just need to be at the finish line sometime between August 14 and September 16 for the 2019 Mongol Rally.

So what’s the purpose then? The unroute is meant to be an adventure. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It’s not the destination. It’s the journey.” And while Mongol Rally teams make their way through Europe and Asia on this chaotic adventure, they’re also each raising a minimum of £1000 for charity. With over 300 teams participating in the 2019 Mongol Rally, they’re collectively set to raise over £1,000,000 for charity.

After years of being fans of Top Gear (the Bolivia Special is THE best episode) and The Grand Tour, it’s no surprise that the Mongol Rally has been on Tim’s bucket list for years. As his celebration of his retirement after serving 20 years in the US Air Force, the Mongol Rally is his retirement adventure.

And as if the Mongol Rally isn’t a crazy enough adventure with a team, he’s doing is solo. Of course, he’s raising money for Cool Earth and his charity of choice is the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Tim has been deeply affected by breast cancer. He lost his mom to breast cancer when she just 42 years old. His sister also battled breast cancer in her early 30s.

If you’d like to donate to either Cool Earth or the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to support Tim’s Mongol Rally fundraising efforts, please do so at his official fundraising campaigns:

Tim’s Mongol Rally Car

The Mongol Rally’s rule is that cars must have an engine size of a mere 1000cc engine. Cars under 1.2 are increasing hard to find, so the Mongol Rally has allowed up to 1.2 engines since 2009. The car can be any age.

Tim has a Honda Jazz he purchased in the UK while he was living there and fitted as a mini camper in the months leading up to the rally. Yes, it’s probably ill-equipped to handle many of the roads he’ll be traveling on and equally as ill-equipped to essentially live out of for his two month long adventure – and that’s exactly the point.

A donkey comes to check out what Tim’s cooking for breakfast in Georgia

In the beginning years of the rally, teams often scrapped, sold or even gifted their cars when they ultimately broke down along the way or once they reached the finish line. This became a problem, and fines and rules have been put in place to make sure participants take their cars back to where ever they came from.

The plan is, if all goes well and Tim’s Honda Jazz makes it all the way to the finish line in Ulan Ude, that he’ll drive it back to the UK. He’ll restore it to its previous function as a car and sell it.

Encountering some locals in Turkmenistan

Tim’s Mongol Rally Route

There’s no official route to the finish line in Ulan Ude, Russia. Tim spent months planning his route and securing visas. He’s traveling through 20 countries.

Originally we began in London, England. I met Tim there and we drove together back home to Bordeaux, France. He had a little pre-Mongol Rally journey through France, Switzerland and Germany before starting at the official Mongol Rally launch near Prague in the Czech Republic.

He then traveled through one of our favorite European cities: Budapest, before continuing on to Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan. He tackled one of the worst border crossings and entered one of the world’s most closed off and difficult countries to visit: Turkmenistan. Then he traveled on to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

He’s about halfway through his Mongol Rally trip. He’ll be writing about it when he’s back home, but for now take a look at some of his most epic stops.

The Via Ferratat Roc du Cornillon has a spectacular view over Lac du Bourget and the Jura Mountains in Eastern France

Lac du Bourget, France

Tim made a stop to do the Via Ferrata Roc du Cornillon. It has an incredible view over Lac du Bourget and the Jura Mountains in Eastern France.

Happy sheep come from Switzerland!

Oeschinen Lake, Switzerland

He got some hiking in above Oeschinen Lake in Switzerland. Since 2007 the lake has been part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Europe’s largest brown bears are found in Romania

Medveles Erdélyben-Gyergyószentmiklóson Bear Watching, Romania

Apparently this farmer was having trouble with the bears causing trouble on his farm. They’d also come in to town. They were able to successfully lure the bears away from the town, and now they have a tourism venture where you can observe the bears safely from a blind they’ve set up.

At one of the organized Mongol Rally meet-ups in Romania. Can you spot Tim?

Sandalandala, Romania

Just a few official meet-ups are scheduled throughout the Mongol Rally. This is the last one before the finish line closing ceremony. It’s at the beach in Sandalandala in Romania, near the Bulgarian border.

A Bosphorus Strait cruise is a great way to take in Istanbul from the water…and escape the heat

Istanbul, Turkey

We stopped in Istanbul and got out to explore on a long layover on our way home from Jordan a few years ago. This time, Tim spent a few days exploring Istanbul. It was during the major European heat wave at the end of July, so he escaped the heat on a Bosphorus Strait cruise.

100-150 balloons take to the sky over Cappadocia on most mornings

Cappadocia, Turkey

Tim checked off another of the best hot air ballooning destinations in the world. With the fairy chimneys, pillars and cliffs, Cappadocia is certainly a sight to behold from a hot air balloon. On almost any given morning, 100-150 hot air balloons take to the air at sunrise.

Bayburt, Turkey

Have you heard of the Bayburt D-915 Road? It’s in Northern Turkey and has been called the world’s most dangerous road, even beating out Bolivia’s famous Death Road. It’s 66 miles long and has 29 hairpin turns.

Soaring over Georgia

Kazbegi, Georgia

After many failed attempts because weather kept us grounded, Tim finally got to try out paragliding. The first few seconds when you run off the cliff is heart stopping, then it’s just a pure adrenaline rush. And Georgia is certainly a beautiful place to paraglide.

Mount Kazbek is the third highest peak in Georgia

Mount Kazbek, Georgia

After several rainy days in Georgia, Tim was finally rewarded with this view of Mount Kazbek at sunrise. It’s the third-highest peak in Georgia and sits on the Georgia-Russia border. And feeding our obsession with volcanoes, it’s a dormant stratovolcano. But it’s been sleeping a long time! The last known eruption was around 750 BC.

The Gergeti Trinity Church sits below in the mountain’s shadow. This has been named one of the most beautiful places in the Caucasus.

Every building and monument is palatial in Ashgabat

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

After a ferry from Azerbaijan, Tim reached Turkmenistan. One of the hardest countries to obtain a tourist visa for and still one of the most closed off, Turkmenistan has been described as “North Korea with oil”. Formerly part of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan gained independence in 1991.

The capital, Ashgabat, was rebuilt in Soviet style in the mid-20th century and is filled with grand monuments honoring former president Saparmurat Niyazov. The monuments are primarily made of white marble – so much marble, in fact, that the city earned the Guinness World Record for having the highest density of white marble-clad buildings in the world.

Darvaza Gas Crater, Turkmenistan

The Gates of Hell, or the Darvaza Gas Crater, in Turkmenistan has been burning since 1971. Lit on fire purposely after the natural gas field collapsed into an underground cavern, geologists estimated it would only burn for a few weeks…it’s been burning for more than four decades.

Stay tuned for more from the Mongol Rally here, and head over to Instagram to follow us. You can check out the Mongol Rally highlight reel on our Instagram profile for scenes from the road.

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About Jennifer Dombrowski

Jennifer Dombrowski is an independent travel publisher and an American expat who has lived in Bordeaux, France since 2016. She previously lived in Northern Italy in a small village near Venice for seven years where she fell in love with wine and wine tourism. She is an award-winning travel writer. She is also a travel correspondent on Traveling on the American Forces Radio Network. Luxe Adventure Traveler was named one of the top travel blogs to watch by the Huffington Post and TripAdvisor, and has been featured by top publications such as National Geographic, CNN, Buzzfeed, and Business Insider. Jennifer's photography has also been featured on publications such as USA Today and Travel + Leisure and on the Travel Channel.

Meet Jennifer & Tim

We’re Jennifer and Tim. We’re professional travel writers and photographers who love adventure and wine, so we often try to combine the two. By day, you’ll find us out on some crazy adventure like snorkeling in Iceland in winter or on a long distance hut-to-hut hike in the Dolomites, but by night, we’re creatures of comfort. If you’re looking for a travel blog about a long-term around-the-world journey, how to travel on $50 a day or less or traveling with kids, Luxe Adventure Traveler isn’t it. Our award-winning travel blog is all about heart pumping adventures, world class accommodations and luxury experiences. Read more...

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